Hot Topics:

Cheating reports up 40 percent this year at CU-Boulder

University may switch plagiarism detection technologies to save money

By Brittany Anas, Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
05/16/2010 06:47:54 PM MDT

Updated:
05/16/2010 07:02:05 PM MDT

The number of University of Colorado students busted for cheating increased by nearly 40 percent this past academic year, but educators say they aren't alarmed, citing increased classroom vigilance for the uptick in reports.

Meanwhile, officials are weighing whether they should renew CU's contract with a company that provides plagiarism-detection software to faculty, or save money and rely on the university's own licensed technology that performs the same task.

Cheating at CU

The number of cheating episodes recorded by the CU Honor Code Council:

2009-10: 218

2009-09: 157

2007-08: 186

2006-07: 171

Source: CU-Boulder

Plagiarism makes up the majority of cheating cases at CU.

During the past academic year, the CU Honor Code Council recorded 218 cheating episodes, which is the highest in recent years. The violations numbered 157 in 2008-09, 186 in 2007-08 and 171 in 2006-07, according to campus spokesman Bronson Hilliard.

"While the numbers are up significantly over last year, so were the communication efforts about being vigilant," Hilliard said. "The numbers may reflect the fact that we had a more widespread discussion about academic honesty in the classroom this year."

The Honor Code Council also investigated nine cheating cases in the Graduate School, which is atypical.

John Stevenson, interim dean of the Graduate School, said CU is better communicating to educators that the Honor Code is not designed just for undergraduates.

"Over the last few years, I've worked for there to be a closer connection between the Graduate School and the Honor Code," he said.

Joseph Rosse, chairman of the Boulder Faculty Assembly, said honor code violations are a concern to faculty members. The assembly hasn't yet analyzed why there may be an increase, but he suspects that faculty members have become better at detecting dishonesty.

The news comes as the university negotiates renewal subscription rates with TurnItIn.com, which scans student essays and flags them if they contain passages that are exact or close matches to other written works.

CU paid $5,050 for its initial subscription to TurnItIn.com when it used the program on a pilot basis in 2002-03. Subscription rates have increased over the years, and have reached $28,000 annually. The current contract ends June 15.

The university owns a technology called Safe Assign that is just as effective, Hilliard said. The plagiarism detection tool compares student papers with the Internet, a database of scholarly articles and other sources.

"This system, by technical accounts, is just as good as TurnItIn.com," Hilliard said. "We're feeling good about our own proprietary system."

The only downside, Hilliard said, is that switching to the CU-owned system likely would require some training.

"There are no plans whatsoever to scrap having a digital search system for our faculty," he said. "We will absolutely have one. It will be a tool in our arsenal to cut down on academic dishonesty."

Billionaires, entertainers and athletes alike announced their intentions to pursue the Los Angeles Clippers with varying degrees of seriousness Wednesday, proving the longtime losers will be quite a prize if the NBA is able to wrest control of the team away from Donald Sterling after his lifetime ban for racist remarks. Full Story

Louie, who (like Louis) is a New York comic and a divorced father of two daughters, knows struggle and angst and cloudy wonderment. He views life through eyes with a stricken look, dwelling in a state of comfortable dread. Full Story